TIlOUßL MAK R N OT long ago the British Broad- casting Corporation opened a recital of chamber music with the slow movement of -the Emperor string quartet by Haydn, whose theme !T!ost people recognize as "Deutschland Uber Alles." This happened to come immediately after a news broadcast. A number of listeners who didn't listen long enough to discover that the theme was followed by variations concluded that the B.B.C. reactionaries had placed this tune with bad intentions, and hur- ried to write letters of protest to news- papers, members of Parliament, and the B.B.C. By the time that other people, better informed, had written further- letters to say how silly the first people were, there was quite a nice little up- roar. This did not surprise me. Already I had known that tune for a trouble- maker. \\Then I was a child, I lived at Boro- gove, the seat of a famous English public schoo] renowned, as are all fa... mous English public schools, for its irra- tional customs and the piety with which they are defended. My father was a master there, so on Sundays I was taken to worship in the Hencoop-a transept of the school chapel set apart for the wives and daughters of the staff. The opposite transept was set apart for Old Borogovians. At Borogove, the sIngIng is con- d ucted in sturdy congre- gational unison, and the choir is drawn from dis- tinguished athletes, whose achievements command respect and following from the rest of the congrega- tion. It is therefore grand to be in the choir. The first and last Sundays of the term are marked by one or the other of a paIr of hymns, one beginning, "Lord, behold us wIth Thy blessing," and con- taining aspirations for im- provement, the other be- ginning, "Lord, dismiss us with Thy blessing," and expressing hope that shortcomIngs may be overlooked. These hymns are in use at most educational establishments, but at Borogove they had a peculiar tradi- tionalism and patina because the six-line stanzas were . ung to the tune of "Deutschland Uber Alles," which is an eight-line tune. It is obvious that there are two ex- pedients by which this discrepancy may be overcome. One is to repeat two lines of the stanza, the other to cut out two lines of the tune. Borogove adopted the second expedient. It elided the third and fourth lines and the effect was ar- resting, not unlike what one feels when one thinks there is going to be another step down on the stairs and there isn't: a jolt, a temporary dizziness and disbe- lief, followed by the acceptance of a hard fact. But it was a custom and nobody dreamed of questioning it (nobody at Borogove) till, in the year 1915, there was a movement to tahoo German music . as being full of corrupting implications, of enemy origin, and not as good as Al- lied products anyway. When this move- ment reached Borogove, the school music master began in a serpentine way to inflame public opinion against such things as the Venusberg mUSIC, and es- pecially to deplore the use of what was really the German national anthem for our two dearest and most valued hymns. This, of course, was very reprehen- sible of him-he should not have taken up such a shoddy crusade-and it was also in judicious, for his knowledge of the world and of Borogove should have warned him not to raise spirits he might not be able to appease. Largely through his efforts, the German national anthem was cast away and he was requested to compose a substitute. He did so, and it was considered to be very melodious and nation- al. It was taught to the ath- letic choir, and when they were pretty sure of it, there were weekday practices for the whole congregation, so that even if the choir should have a temporary aberration, the rest of us should not be left like sheep without a shepherd. Some of the masters taught it to their wives. No pains were spared. Meanwhile, other mas- ters, who also happened to be Old Borogovians, were oppressed with doubts and disaffections and a sharp sense that an impiety had been commit- ted. The new tune might be all very well-patriotic, no doubt-but it was new. That in itself was bad. But it was not even like the old one, and that was worse. It was new, it was different. It lacked the trenchancy of an eight-line tune with the third and fourth lines left out; no mere six-line performance could achieve quite the same vitalizing r1 . r S JJ.l '0 , {\< f ' f .--- ()It r 0-:$- /) /d 'ì :::::== 69 BE DISCRIMINA riNG qj)ltmh dnzeûcaá UNEXCELLED WHISKEY Unchanging in a ChangingWorld SE BLENDED STRAI GHT f!llye WHISKIES 90 PROOF ";; .:::.: .:.:::$ \ ". ..:::: :'," ...;;.t ".:c.::x... ...:.... . 4r: ti;i : i; , ,1L Æfi ::. * ':'.." ". ..\ ;);} cL? ',) --"7"" ß i; f1'ftì7 i .tf.;&v/'ri' ! Maryland's '-'MELROSE" J Toast To .' .\.,,:; . ,' "". 7!J" ." The Nation! ?;\' &:I7de4i : " : /:J"I ." i ,( ?-il )< ". 1/ #. """ y . : . /1/./ l{4/i"YC4, ". i Jå2;i<- <'v.:.;,.j;::":?.-:â ;:'/.t. l-'t-w qA. < :1:. .Æk ,f !;I; 'ir%>"*'l ..,' .tm Mt . .' . . . ... r.:; j,",f"'þ iji';'" ;r:1,q,i t;Ç;, , # ß;'':r Ç:. ... ..,'. . " <CS\ : . . , ""\ s"".; ,^ , " '?, tt!- I'" ..... : -'. ,iR - !!::'" _..,.!=li': f í: ? " ;; "\ .-. ;'.,." . Øleco/tdð w Wold6kw INCORPORATED BALTIMORE, MARYLAND ESTABLISHED 1885 THE STRAIGHT WHISKIES IN THIS PRODUCT ARE 6 YEARS OR MORE OLD